(Fig. 1) Hudlin, Reginald. The Big Bang. Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0, DC Comics, 2021.

Throughout history, African American artists have been very influential. They have lent their voices and creativity to the world of art and the world of superheroes. Breaking through many barriers, African American graphic artists created a way out of no way, gaining access to resources that helped to push self-representation forward in ways rarely seen before within mainstream media. Black artists working in comics have not only had to fight for recognition in the regular sense, but they have also had to fight inequality and systemic racism throughout their careers.

There is a common theme within theories of Black aesthetics that Black artists should devote their art to spreading the message of the inequality that is still prevalent in society. Many face the question, “Should my art highlight the “Black experience?” Comics are one medium in which messages regarding the Black experience have been introduced to a wider audience. Comics are a wonderful way to present a broad range of viewers with new ideas and views. Big comic book companies that are well established and known include DC and Marvel. Additionally, we might look at other publishing houses in the comic book industry that have created some of comics’ most notable African American characters, those characters with stories that highlight the “Black experience” that many African Americans may face.

Comics often thrust readers into a fictional world with idealized or archetypal characters. Sometimes, the stories may even dive into stereotypes that have circled the African American community for decades. However, some of these characters are more nuanced and have beautiful stories that mirror the same everyday struggles that we might encounter in day-to-day life. Viewers of comics, or cartoons, may be made aware of this in stories like Static Shock, a comic produced by Milestone Media. Static, a teenage African American superhero, first made an appearance in 1993 where the character was written by one of Milestone’s founders Dwayne McDuffie and illustrated by John Paul Leon.

Milestone Media has subsequently become recognized for creating some of the most famous Black superheroes that fans can relate to and see themselves within. In doing so, Milestone paved the way for African Americans to find a voice within an industry run by predominantly white publishing companies. They have helped to show the many different sides to the Black community and incorporated stories about the battles that not only superheroes but ordinary people have to face on a regular basis. After the fighting is over, the Black superheroes have to walk back into a world where people still discriminate against them because of the color of their skin. They are not only having to fight physical threats, whether worldly or in outer space, but also the collective threat of the inequality and systemic racism experienced by many African Americans.

Static Shock: Milestone Returns

The Big Bang: Milestone Returns #0 is the first part of a comic book series illustrated by the artists ChrisCross and Nikolas Draper-Ivey, produced in 2021. In the first part of the 2021 digital series, the origin story of the teenage superhero, Static Shock, is revealed through a “shocking” turn of events. Not only does Static, Virgil Hawkins, have to face the problems of an everyday superhero, but he must also endure issues that stereotypically arise from being a black teenager. The many problems that face the black community today are part of a long history of injustice. The struggle to be included and have access to resources is an issue highlighted in Static’s portrayal of the experiences of the black community.

Static presents a collaboration between two graphic artists. Christopher “ChrisCross” Willams is a writer and a comic book illustrator. ChrisCross was born June 23rd, in 1968. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York, and started working for Malibu Comics in 1991 on their title Cat & Mouse. Eventually, in 1993, he was hired by Milestone Media and began working on some of their comics, the most popular being the comic Icon. His career has been very successful, as he has worked for both DC and Marvel. In addition to Icon, he has also worked on the titles Blood Syndicate and later on Worlds Collide and Hardware.[1]

Chris Cross is a penciller and a cover artist specifically. A penciller is an artist who works with a team of other artists in creating a comic book. The penciller will focus on the initial drawings before the inking process. The artistic style of Cross resembles a lot of the modern, western styles of comic book art . He draws characters as very muscular and toned, depicting the most physically idealized versions of humans, conveying both the physical and psychological strength of the characters.

The second artist who is involved in the production of Static is Nikolas Draper-Ivey. Nikolas Draper-Ivey was born in 1991, in Lansing, Michigan. Growing up in Detroit, his father introduced Japanese animation to him with the movie Akira. Shortly after this, he discovered Shonen Jump, a weekly magazine published in Japan. He was inspired to become an illustrator, which is why his art style is described as manga-esque. He has worked mostly on his own series, the current one being called Dream Vesper. Draper-Ivey has had the opportunity to develop the artwork for the cover of Marvel’s Black Panther: The Album and to work on Static Shock.

Nikolas Ivey began his illustrative journey in 2010, when he began college at SCAD (Savannah College Of Art & Design). He has stated that his two biggest influences are Roger Deakins (Director of cinematography for Blade Runner 2049) and Takeshi Obata, (artist for Hikaru No Go, Death Note, BAKUMAN Platinum End.)[2]  His art style is heavily influenced by Japanese manga. His artistic style uses a lot of light and shadows in high contrast, and combines a manga style with other influences, such as hip-hop, fantasy, and pop culture. His style is a blend of cultural influences that has been described as an Afro-Asian futurism.

The scene from Static that provides the background story for the character of Static Shock has significant meaning. This page from the Static comic shows people protesting at a Black Lives Matter march. (Fig. 1) Originally, in older versions of the superhero’s origin, there was a gang war occurring. Vrigil Hawkins is caught in an altercation between a gang trying to recruit him and the police, who spray him with chemicals that grant him the superpower to generate and control electricity. The original comics highlighted the problem with gang wars and gang violence because this was a huge problem during the time of the earliest volumes of the comic, originally published in June 1993.

The shift from a representation of gang warfare to the scene of a Black Lives Matter protest is very bold and contemporary. The issues in the comic are synonymous with what is going on in today’s society. The Black Lives Matter movement was started to fight and help bring awareness to police brutality. It also brought awareness to racially motivated attacks on Black people and the disproportionate number of fatal interactions with law enforcement. In the 2021 comic production, there is therefore a dramatic shift in the context, and also a change from the original comic as to who is shown as the perpetrator of violence.   

Within this scene the artists have clearly communicated that there is conflict. There are people standing in front of a barricade of law enforcement with signs and placards. As you read the words within the speech bubbles of the image, you can see that some of the law enforcement officers are becoming angry with the group of people, who are clearly gathering in protest of something. As I have stated earlier, this protest is contextualized as a Black Lives Matter march. The protesters look to be angry themselves, an anger that could be read as rage but could also come from a place of passion and frustration at the enactment of police violence on the innocent. In this scene from the comic, there is a sign that states, “She was sleeping.” This is a reference to Breonna Taylor’s death. She was shot by police during a raid on her apartment in March of 2020. The scene in the comic encapsulates the subsequent outrage and the protestor’s emotional longing to be treated and seen equally. At the bottom of the page, the law enforcement officers raise what appear to be guns at the protesters. A flash comes from the barrel of the gun, where it appears that a gas is released instead of bullets.

Diving into the dialogue more, one of the officers states, “Turn around and get back to school or be arrested for truancy!” The definition of truancy is someone staying away from school without having a good reason. This threat of truancy charges is seen often in protests with younger members present. Many people have been arrested for peacefully protesting on a number of grounds. Being arrested for “no good reason” has happened quite frequently. The use of the word “truancy” is very interesting in this case. If truancy means staying away from school for no good reason, then the officer in the comic is saying that the students do not have a good reason for missing school. However, is it not a good reason to protest and fight for your life? Is it not a good reason to want equality for people like you? Is it not a good reason to not want to return to your school if, like society, it puts stigmas on students of color?

The new origin story presented in the 2021 series of Static Shock may cause readers of this comic to look more deeply into how society views certain movements spurred by racial injustice, including the civil rights movement and Black Lives Matter. How many people in our communities think this way? How many people think that fighting for equal treatment is not worth the charge of truancy?

ChrisCross and Nikolas Ivey are only two of the artists helping to bring awareness to the issues of this nature in today’s society. Throughout history, Black people have had to fight for equality, fair treatment, and the resources that many others get to enjoy on a regular basis. Highlighting the ways in which Black people are treated for wanting what others have always had provides viewers with a chance to see positive and strong representations that will inspire them to rise to their fullest potential. By electrifying Static Shock in new and meaningful ways, these artists bring new light to our contemporary society and its history.

[1] DC Fandom. N/A. “ChrisCross.” DC Fandom. https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/ChrisCross.   

[2] Nikolas Draper-Ovey, “About,” https://www.nikolasdraperivey.net/about

References

Aldama, Frederick L. 2018. Comic Studies Here and Now. 1st ed. New York: n.p. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781351015271/comics-studies-federck-luis-aldama?refId=3449be2d-ea85-43f0-8c99-a61eb1f9ab61&context=ubx.

Ayala, Vita. 2021. “STATIC: SEASON ONE #1.” 1st ed., 1. No. 1. Comicbook Round Up. Comic Book. https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/dc-comics/static-(2021)/seaSon-one-1.

Baculi, Spencer. 2021. “ENTERTAINMENT DC Comics Retcon Sees Static Receive Powers During Black Lives Matter Protest.” The Mix. https://www.themix.net/2021/03/dc-comics-retcon-sees-static-receive-powers-during-black-lives-matter-protest/. 

Brown, Jefferey. 2000. Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=z75PoTDIXHkC&oi=fnd&pg=PT7&dq=milestone+comics+black+superheroes&ots=yODbB7RkiZ&sig=tAY-1w5Y6y7x_cVxEVd3Lw_ZV20#v=onepage&q=milestone%20comics%20black%20superheroes&f=false 

DC Fandom. N/A. “ChrisCross.” DC Fandom. https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/ChrisCross.   

Draper-Ivey, Nikolas. N/A. “Nikolas Draper-Ivey.” Nikolas Draper-Ivey. https://www.nikolasdraperivey.net/about.

Jennings, Collier. 2021. “DC Announces Static Creative Team for Milestone Relaunch.” CBR. https://www.cbr.com/static-creative-team-dc-milestone-relaunch/.

Gateward, Frances. 2015. The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and   Sequential Art. New Brunswick, New Jersey, London: Rutgers University Press.   https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.36019/9780813572369/html.

Nama, Adilifu. 2009. “Brave black worlds: black superheroes as science fiction ciphers.” African Identities 7, no. 2 (May): 133-144.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14725840902808736.

Robinson, Shantay. 2018. “A Very Abbreviated Version of Black Art History.” Black Art In America. https://www.blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2018/11/20/a-very-abbreviated-version-of-black-art-history/.

Singer, Marc. 2002. “"Black Skins" and White Masks: Comic Books and the Secret of Race.” African American Review 36, no. 1 (Spring): 176. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2903369.

Williams, Matthew. 2016. “5 Black Artists Discuss Breaking Down Barriers.” Format. https://www.format.com/magazine/features/photography/black-artists-barriers.

Citation: Grant, Destin. “Our Electrified History: Static Shock.” Journal of Art & Theatre, vol. 1, no. 1 (2022): 44-50.